THE IUP Football Thread

[IUPNation]

Looks like winner of Ashland and ND will visit Miller.

Did Shepherd get Concord?

[IUPbigINDIANS]

Looks like winner of Ashland and ND will visit Miller.

[IUPNation]

Tort got the No. 1 seed and a bye.

It would have been a travesty of Assumption got it.

[IUP Crimson Hawk]

Tort got the No. 1 seed and a bye.

Plus they will get the best WR in the country back and the best RB in the region back! Region 1 will run through Indiana.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

Tort got the No. 1 seed and a bye.

[Ship69]

Yes, for all of the focus on the "name" skill players, the game was won in the trenches. I remember this being a concern for the Shep fans (who are very knowledgeable) but I didn't expect it to be so obvious.

Playing without Brown and Stewart and still winning is definitely impressive. I joke about Tort's "we have a lot of players" comment but it's true. IUP is deep with a lot of weapons.

Wow, so many contributors yesterday. It was a very satisfying victory.

On to the playoffs. IUP will need their big guns to be ready to make this run. At some point, anyway.

Not to take anything away from Shep. If there is a repeat matchup, it will be just as interesting as the first one.

Finally, I think Sexton has some intangibles. I think he is clearly the leader (I'm sure there are numerous leaders) and he manages the game really well. They talk about Bagent being unflappable but Sexton always seems to have his eyes on the prize.

Hopefully, we get the right bounces in the PO's. IUP needs to stick with the next Saturday approach.

Games are almost always won in the trenches. I don't care what kind of skill players you have; if your o-line blows, you're not going to have much of an offense. When IUP came into Ship with an offense of almost all grad students and seniors on the line, while Ship was starting freshmen and sophomores, I knew we were in for a long afternoon. Brown and Ridley wouldn't be much good to IUP if Sexton was being knocked on his butt all game. Keeping the QB's uniform clean has been a key to winning football games as long as I've been watching them, and that's a long time. While IUP didn't plant Bagent much Saturday, they did get him out of his comfort zone on more than one occasion. I have no idea why Shepherd doesn't run Brown more. That guy is a helluva D2 back. I think Bagent's skill tends to make them a little pass-happy.

[OldSchool IUP]

So, if he didn't practice all week that means he did get hurt in the Clarion game (up 35-0).

Correct-he did get hurt in that game

[iupgroundhog]

The dust has settled. My take for what it’s worth.

IUP won this game in the trenches. They dominated both lines of scrimmage and on the type of night it was, that was necessary. Despite not getting a sack (I don’t think), the IUP defensive front had Bagent on the move and off schedule. There were a few times when IUP only brought four and he had time to stand there, but because they dropped so many guys into coverage Bagent couldn’t find an opening. I tip my cap to the defensive staff for the game plan, and obviously to the players for executing it.

When I realized Brown wasn’t dressed and then Stewart went down early, I have to admit I expected the worst. To win under those circumstances was impressive. I think that’s what frustrates IUP fans. The team can put together an effort like that, but then not so much in others. I guess that’s the definition of college sports and every team deals with it. Regarding Brown sitting out, I was extremely impressed with Deabner’s performance. That kid is a weapon and needs to see the field more, even when Brown is back. Regarding Stewart, it looked like he was on his way to a monster game and let’s hope IUP gets a bye and he can get back. That said, what can you say about Houser? Many of us have been critical of him here, but the kid showed what he’s capable of so shame on us. On top of that, the unselfish play to slide down instead of taking the ball into the end zone at the end was classy. It guaranteed Shepherd wouldn’t touch the ball again.

Overall, I think IUP is just better than Shepherd. That’s not to say at all that the Rams wouldn’t win a rematch. Their concern should be how IUP won consistently up front. That’s not something that’s easily fixable. It’s less about scheme and more about my guy being better than your guy. With all of the holding penalties Shepherd had, there were plenty more that could have been called. Depending on seeding, we could see a rematch and to be honest, I’d be happy if it didn’t happen. Those are two great teams and if they played a seven game series it would probably go seven.

Odds and ends…Too many selfish unsportsmanlike conduct penalties, again! I thought Naszhir Taylor played his best game AND he didn’t get into trouble for taunting, etc. He’s great if he just plays football. Special teams, for the most part, were outstanding. Perfect on field goals and extra points and how about two punts downed inside the five? Sexton seemed to play with a chip on his shoulder having to hear about Bagent all week. Then there was the article in the local paper that was all about Bagent. Not saying it wasn’t a good article and appropriate when a kid with Bagent’s credentials is coming to town, but if I’m Sexton that would piss me right off. He played great and made some clutch throws. He’s a very tough competitor and I wouldn’t trade him for anyone.

The playoff seeding will be interesting but here’s hoping IUP and Shepherd are on opposite sides of the bracket.

Yes, for all of the focus on the "name" skill players, the game was won in the trenches. I remember this being a concern for the Shep fans (who are very knowledgeable) but I didn't expect it to be so obvious.

Playing without Brown and Stewart and still winning is definitely impressive. I joke about Tort's "we have a lot of players" comment but it's true. IUP is deep with a lot of weapons.

Wow, so many contributors yesterday. It was a very satisfying victory.

On to the playoffs. IUP will need their big guns to be ready to make this run. At some point, anyway.

Not to take anything away from Shep. If there is a repeat matchup, it will be just as interesting as the first one.

Finally, I think Sexton has some intangibles. I think he is clearly the leader (I'm sure there are numerous leaders) and he manages the game really well. They talk about Bagent being unflappable but Sexton always seems to have his eyes on the prize.

Hopefully, we get the right bounces in the PO's. IUP needs to stick with the next Saturday approach.

[jrshooter]

Tort apologist just like the Tomlin ones in Pittsburgh!

If YOU'RE taking aim at Matt Burglund, who makes the rest of the PSAC coverage look like a preschool newspaper, you're an idiot.

Period.

[EyeoftheHawk]

Remember, Carter actually did fumble the second time. They lucked out and got it. Wasn't his day.

The KO coverage has been great all year but was pretty not great yesterday. Granted, there was an elite returner involved.

Yeah, you forget the Carter fumbles because the one apparently wasn’t a fumble and the other IUP recovered. If either of those ends up in the hands of a Shepherd player we might be singing a different song. Carter also missed last week with an injury and was apparently a bit rusty. I wouldn’t have put him back there after the first “almost” fumble, but I’m also not sure what the other options may have been so I’m sure they went with what they thought was best.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

What I said was special teams, for the most part, were outstanding. Yes there was the kickoff return that was aided by having to kick into the stiff wind, but when you look at the body of work I think they were great, but of course, not perfect.

Regarding Deabner, there are little things every player has to get better at but I think given the situation he found himself in and in a championship game against top talent, he was better than expected. He’s also only a sophomore and I for one look forward to seeing him around here a couple more years.

Remember, Carter actually did fumble the second time. They lucked out and got it. Wasn't his day.

The KO coverage has been great all year but was pretty not great yesterday. Granted, there was an elite returner involved.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

Correct....is it more important to pad stats or win championships?

If there is any good to come of it, it sounds like Joe Lombardi finally learned his lesson (after having a star tear an ACL in blowouts two straight years). He pulled Ethan Porterfield early yesterday.

[IUPNation]

It's maddening. You're just playing Russian Roulette leaving superstars in blowouts.

It's just stupidity in reality.

Correct....is it more important to pad stats or win championships?

[IUPbigINDIANS]

Same reason Joe left Shawndale in a game at Walk On U when they were crushing it and I watched his team mates carry him out of the gym and that might have been the reason they didn't win the National Title....

It's maddening. You're just playing Russian Roulette leaving superstars in blowouts.

It's just stupidity in reality.

[IUPNation]

Since The State Game was brought back for the 2008 season...this is the current tallies of winners.

Three Time Winners
IUP - 2012, 2017, 2022
Slimey Pebble - 2014, 2015, 2019

Two Time Winners
Mon Valley U - 2008, 2016
Kutztown - 2011, 2021

One Time Winners
Shippensburg - 2009
Mercyhurst - 2010
Bloomsburg - 2013
Walk On U - 2018

As much as we rag about the Pee Sack...at least unlike the "power conferences" which seem to be the same schools every year winning their titles...the Pee Sack has seen almost half of it's membership win the conference at least once in 14 season.